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Fish Farming: Facts and Faux

There is much controversy in the media surrounding farmed salmon aquaculture, as people often argue that the industry is responsible for depleting our wild stocks. Despite all the criticisms and controversies however, the B.C.’s farmed salmon industry is becoming an important one for the province. 350 million dollars’ worth of farmed salmon is exported yearly, predominantly to the United States. B.C. is superceding its exporting competitor, Chile, in terms of sales to the U.S. Their volumes have not increased, but the value of the fish has. Currently, the aquaculture industry is working with the World Wildlife Fund to create a certification program for farmed fish. [Read full article].

To counteract farmed salmon’s bad reputation, which has built up since salmon farming started on B.C.’s coast, leaders in the industry such as the B.C. Salmon Farmers Association, Grieg Harvest, Marine Harvest, among others are working on a campaign to persuade the public that open net farming is not as harmful as critics say. One way in which they are doing this is through a website about salmon farming: http://www.bcsalmonfacts.ca/